[MyAppleMenu] Jan 29, 2007

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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<http://www.myapplemenu.com/>
Mac news for Mac people

[News]

*** Apple Ups The Stakes With Convergence Play
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/29/appletv/>
David Perry, The Register

No doubt iPod users will take the plunge in the expectation that Apple will deliver another killer app for digital entertainment.

*** Verizon Rejected Apple iPhone Deal
<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2007-01-28-verizon-iphone_x.htm?POE=TECISVA>
Leslie Cauley, USA Today

Among other things, Apple wanted a percentage of the monthly cellphone fees, say over how and where iPhones could be sold and control of the relationship with iPhone customers, said Jim Gerace, a Verizon Wireless vice president. "We said no. We have nothing bad to say about the Apple iPhone. We just couldn't reach a deal that was mutually beneficial."

*** Adobe Sets Mid-February Ship Date For Lightroom
<http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/01/28/lightroom/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Jim Dalrymple, Macworld

Adobe announced that version 1.0 of its photography workflow application will shiop on February 19. Lightroom will sell for $199 until April 30, 2007. After that, the price increases to $299.

*** UK Get A Mac Ads Now Available
<http://www.macuser.com/advertising/uk_get_a_mac_ads_now_available.php?lsrc=murss>
Derik DeLong, MacUser

They're now complete with British accents.

*** If The Price Isn't Right, Analyst Will Take A Pass
<http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=557831>
Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Fundamental analysts like Christopher J. Grant say it's unlikely a company like Apple is worth $10 billion more five days after a product launch.

*** UK-Specific "Get A Mac" Ads Coming
<http://www.macuser.com/advertising/ukspecific_get_a_mac_ads_comin.php?lsrc=murss>
Dan Moren, MacUser

One Britain-based blogger has taken some video fo what appears to be a poster for a UK-specific "Get a Mac" ad.

*** Lifestyle Accessories Turn The World Into iPod's Oyster
<http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/lifestyle-accessories-turn-the-world-into-ipods-oyster/2007/01/28/1169919212121.html>
The Age

Gecko is the latest player, and one of the few Australians, to enter the global eco-system that Apple launched five years ago with the introduction of the iPod.

The Tomorrow Weblog
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<http://www.myapplemenu.com/tomorrow/>
Emerging Technologies. Innovative Applications. New Economy

[News]

*** Tracking Who's Saying What About Whom
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/28/AR2007012801032.html>
Kim Hart, Washington Post

New Media Strategies' 'online anlysts' scour the web for mentions of opinion-sensitive clients.

*** At Davos, The Squabble Resumes On How To Wire The Third World
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/business/worldbusiness/29cheap.html>
John Markoff, New York Times

Mr Negroponte, who has quarreled publicly with both Microsoft and Intel executives in his quest to give simple portable machines to hundreds of millions of children, has long been known for his iconoclastic positions on economic development and education.

*** Adobe To Send PDF To Standards Group
<http://news.com.com/2100-1012_3-6154067.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news>
Martin LaMonica, CNET News.com

Adobe Systems on Monday is expected to detail plans to submit its Portable Document Format specification to the International Organization for Standardization, a body of particular importance to governments and large corporations.

*** Courts Turn To Wikipedia, But Selectively
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/technology/29wikipedia.html?ex=1327726800&en=695df31f21874777&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
Noam Cohen, New York Times

A simple search of published court decision shows that Wikipedia is frequently cited by judges around the country, involving serious issues and the bizarre.

MyAppleMenu Reader
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<http://www.myapplemenu.com/reader/>
The other things in life

[World]

*** China's Fantasy Of Freedom
<http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1582119,00.html>
Hannah Beech, Time

Over the years, the Qixia village chiefs served as my China reality check. Compared with the days when foreign journalists had to smuggle in ground coffee in their suitcases, my life in China was positively luxurious: I sipped lattes at Starbucks and collected tips on where to buy the best pesto in Shanghai. But every few months, the Qixia men would call with an update, reminding me of some of the grim realities beyond China's cafes and marble-lined lobbies.

[Life]

*** Google's Moon Shot: The Quest For The Universal Library
<http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070205fa_fact_toobin>
Jeffrey Toobin, New Yorker

Every weekday, a truck pulls up to the Cecil H. Green Library, on the campus of Stanford University, and collects at least a thousand books, which are taken to an undisclosed location and scanned, page by page, into an enormous database being created by Google.

*** Wear Your Heart On Your Sleeves
<http://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/story/0,,2000185,00.html>
Sean O'Hagan, The Guardian

In the days before iTunes, when you wanted to impress a girl you lovingly put together a compilation tape from your LPs. Now -- thanks to the wondrous choice of digital music -- mix tapes and vinyl are dying out. But is some of the mystery and meaning of music also disappearing?

[Expressions]

*** Good People
<http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/content/articles/070205fi_fiction_wallace>
David Foster Wallace, New Yorker

SingaporeSurf
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<http://www.myapplemenu.com/singapore/>
Life in the city

[Ramblings]

*** Trade Deficit
Heng-Cheong Leong

Gregore Pio Lopez <http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/1/29/business/16673088&sec=business>, reporting in The Star: Singapore, a close ally of the US, saw its trade deficit with the US increase by 200%, a rise of US$2.9 bil in the first year upon signing the FTA.

[News]

*** Youth Challenge's Treasurer Say New Board Aware Of Electronic Transfer
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/255423/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia

A week after the new board members revealed they were unaware of a S$15,000 electronic transfer made to the former executive president, the board's treasurer has now come out to say the payment was fully authorised. It is the latest twist in the tale.

*** Asian Governments Encouraged To Life Controls On Information
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/255343/1/.html>
Wong Mun Wai, Channel NewsAsia

Asian countries need to lift government controls on information and data to feed innovation and the knowledge economy. Singapore's Ambassador-At-Large Professor Tommy Koh said the restrictions hamper research in innovation.

*** Protesters Burn Singapore Minister Effigy
<http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=116395>
DPA

Hundreds of thai protestors burned an effigy of Singapore's deputy prime minister outside the Singapore embassy on Monday, after failing to receive an apology from the city-state over a recent diplomatic tiff.

*** Private Consumption The Weak Link In Singapore's Economic Expansion
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/255303/1/.html>
Lee Ching Wern, Today

"The big boom has benefited companies more than workers. The economic benefits are going to those who are well-to-do and who own capital -- not the average person," said Dr Chua Hak Bin, Citigroup Economist.

*** Singapore Youth Scorn Abstinence
<http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=116386>
DPA

Youths in Singapore are fed up with campaigns promoting sexual abstinence, a published survey said Monday.

[Opinion]

*** Singapore: See What This Little Overarchiver CanOffer
<http://etf.seekingalpha.com/article/25339>
Nicholas Vardy, Seeking Alpha

Look at almost any "Global Top Ten" list of economic achievements and you'll rarely see Singapore not in the Top Five.

*** Wanted: Singaporeans To Develop The Next YouTube Or Skype. Can It Be Done?
<http://www.justinlee.name/2007/01/29/wanted-sporeans-to-develop-the-next-youtube-or-skype-can-it-be-done/>
Justin Lee

We'll have to accept that we'll always be second-tier, to China and Silicon Valley because of their large markets, infrastructure and eco-system that would be really difficult to trump.

*** The Viod Deck - Open And Inclusive?
<http://waynesoon.blogspot.com/2007/01/void-deck-open-and-inclusive.html>
The Anti-Neo-Democracy Theorist

I am glad there is still an institutionalized political system called the Meet the People Session, where MPs still are forced by precedence to meet lower income Singaporeans.

*** India Versus Singapore - What An Airport Says About A Country
<http://blogation.blogspot.com/2007/01/india-versus-singapore-what-airport.html>
Blogation

Let's review. Bangalore with its flaming piles of trash, closed airport entrance, long lines, unhelpful gate agents, random security name-tag rules, and 25 people sitting around chatting... versus Singapore with free foot massages, orderly lines, and just three customer service agents who managed to efficiently serve everyone they encountered.

*** Freeing Your Speech
<http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2007/01/freeing-your-speech.html>
Mr Wang Says So

Singaporeans are afraid, and the fear runs deep.

*** The Problem Of Plenty
<http://www.straitstimes.com/portal/site/STI/menuitem.c2aef3d65baca16abb31f610a06310a0/?vgnextoid=6fadbe120b93a010VgnVCM1000000a35010aRCRD&vgnextfmt=vgnartid:ab3d45b522960110VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD>
Willie Cheng, Straits Times

More charities -- big or small -- need to think about the issue of reserves. They especially need to be more pro-active in developing a reserves policy and fund-raising targets and objectives, and communiating these issues to donors.

*** Why We Ought Not To Have A Mandatory Death Penalty Where There Is Already A Lowered Standard Of Proof
<http://kitana.wordpress.com/2007/01/28/why-we-ought-not-to-have-a-mandatory-death-penalty-where-there-is-already-a-lowered-standard-of-proof/>
Coffee And Cigarettes

There is no need to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to convict a drug trafficker.

[Entertainment]

*** Sex Films Aims To Give Singapore Pleasure
<http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2007-01-29T130056Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-285396-1.xml>
Miral Fahmy, Reuters

Ekachai Uekrongtham loves a sordid story and the award-winning Thai director wants prudish Singapore to hear this one. This week, Uekrongtham finished shooting "Pleasure Factory", a film about Geylang, the city-state's red light district, which he wants to release in the second half of the year.